STORY BY: TIM SCHNETTLER
COLDSPRING — It was supposed to be the biggest test of the early season for the Navasota Rattlers and they aced it like they had been studying for it for years.
The fourth-ranked Rattlers rolled into Coldspring’s Trojan Field and completely shut down the Coldspring-Oakhurst offense, rolling to a 24-0 non-district victory Friday night. The victory improved the Rattlers’ record to 2-0, while the Trojans dropped to 1-1.
The Rattler defense, which has not allowed a point in two games this season, controlled the Trojans’ Wing-T offense, holding them to 222 total yards, all on the ground, and forcing five turnovers — four fumbles and one interception.
“Our defense played outstanding again tonight,” Navasota head coach Lee Fedora said.
Senior defensive lineman Jordan Wells led the defensive charge, finishing with two sacks on the night and spending most of his time in the Trojans’ backfield. His play had Coldspring head coach Bryan Barbay singing his praise after the game.
“He [Barbay] told me that any college coaches who were concerned about Jordan’s size just needed to watch the film,” Fedora said. “He told me he was frustrated all night because they could not block him.”
While the defense kept the Trojans at bay, the Navasota offense started slowly, but got a huge boost from running back LaMarquis Jefferson just before the half.
The Rattlers were leading 3-0 courtesy of a 25-yard field goal from Michael Martinez when they took over at their own 14-yard line with less than two minutes left in the first half.
On the second play after the Rattlers took possession, Jefferson took a handoff, broke through the line, shed a pair of defenders and outraced the secondary for an 83-yard touchdown. Jefferson seemed to kick it into another gear when he hit midfield, leaving the last two defenders with a chance to catch him in his wake.
The score put the Rattlers up 10-0 heading into the half and the score stayed that way until late in the third quarter when the Rattlers cashed in on a fumble recovery by Franterric Powell.
The recovery set Navasota up at the Coldspring 26 and they need just three plays to score, with quarterback Shelton Eppler hitting Deionnte Taylor on a 24-yard slant pass for a 17-0 lead.
The final score of the night came after another fumble recovery by the Navasota defense, this one by Davon Jernigan at the Coldspring 23-yard line, leading to a 1-yard scoring run from Derrion Randle.
On the night, Navasota’s offense finished with 358 yards, 232 rushing and 126 passing. Eppler had all the passing yards, completing 12 of his 22 attempts on the night.
Randle led the ground attack gaining 146 yards on 17 carries, while Jefferson finished with 96 on just seven carries.
The Rattlers return to action next Friday when they play host to Houston Sterling for Homecoming at Rattler Stadium. The game can be heard on Navasota News 1550 with the pregame starting at 7.
